Microsoft CEO to meet with EU regulators

Microsoft CEO to meet with EU regulators: "Microsoft CEO to meet with EU regulators

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

BRUSSELS, Belgium -- Microsoft Corp.'s chief executive, Steve Ballmer, will meet with the European Union's antitrust chief next week, her spokesman said Friday, as the world's biggest software company appeals a March 2004 ruling by EU regulators.

"Neelie Kroes planned to meet Ballmer over breakfast Wednesday to discuss general antitrust issues, EU spokesman Jonathan Todd said.

Earlier this month, Kroes said her department had received new informal complaints about Microsoft, perhaps leading to the opening of a new case.

Microsoft said the meeting had no specific agenda.

"It is part of the regular dialogue between Microsoft and the commission on a range of policy issues," company spokesman Tom Brookes said.

Regulators from the European Union ruled last year that Microsoft had abused its near monopoly in desktop computer systems to illegally dominate the media software market and threaten the position of competitors selling office networking software.

The European Commission fined Microsoft 497 million euros ($599 million) and ordered it to share code with rivals and to offer an unbundled version of Windows without the Media Player software.

Redmond-based Microsoft is appealing the ruling but in the meantime has produced a Windows version without its bundled Media Player.

A question remains over Microsoft's promise to give rival software makers some cost-free, additional access to its software protocols -- the complex and closely guarded procedures that allow software programs to interact with operating platforms such as Windows.

Microsoft and EU regulators have not been able to agree on which material should be free and which codes should be paid for.

The EU spokesman also said Ballmer planned to meet with Siim Kallas, the European Commission's vice president in charge of administration.

The Central New York Business Journal

The Central New York Business Journal: "CEO Johnson has settled into leadership position
by Kevin Tampone, Journal Staff

: LIVERPOOL — For Dale Johnson, working in the hospice world presents unique opportunities not easily found elsewhere. “It’s really the intersection of medicine and theology,” he says. “That’s an interesting neighborhood to be in. That, to me, is the fun part of it.”

"Johnson has been CEO of Hospice of Central New York since February. He brings a diverse background with him.

He graduated from Syracuse University with a degree in political science in 1974 and from SU’s College of Law in 1980. He worked for and was a partner at local law firms, including Costello, Cooney, & Fearon and Menter, Rudin, & Trivelpiece, until June 2000 when he went back to school for a master’s degree in public administration.

During his year studying for that degree at SU’s Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, he focused on the administration of non-profit organizations. He was drawn to the field after spending time serving on various boards while working as a lawyer.

“I just found that that was the part of what I was doing that I kind of got the biggest charge out of,” Johnson says. “I decided I wanted to do it full time.”

Johnson was executive director of The Samaritan Center from September 2001 until taking his current job.

In the hospice world, it’s important to fight the urge to “over-medicalize” the treatment of patients, Johnson says.

“You kind of have to fight to keep the heart in it,” he says. “That is really a set of challenges and opportunities and tensions that I’m not sure there’s any place else around that offers that same combination.”

In addition to revamping his organization’s information-technology system, Johnson is looking at other long-term projects. In fact, he helped create a new position on the Hospice staff to foster those long-term goals.

Among other things, the organization is conducting an internal study to determine whether it should open its own residential facility. Currently, Hospice provides all its services only in patients’ residences.

When looking at any major initiative, Johnson says, it helps to keep in mind that, as a non-profit group, the shareholders comprise the entire Central New York Community.

“We need to make sure that we are doing things that are valuable to the community generally,” he says. “We’re the only hospice in the area and so on the one hand, that could be a recipe for complacency.

“To my way of thinking though, what that means is that our deal with the community is that if we’re going to be the only one here, we have to behave like there are five other hospices down the street who are after the same patients we are.”

MercuryNews.com | 10/02/2005 | CEO sizes up Motorola, Silicon Valley

MercuryNews.com | 10/02/2005 | CEO sizes up Motorola, Silicon Valley: "CEO sizes up Motorola, Silicon Valley

Ed Zander left Silicon Valley in 2004 to take the top post at Motorola. The Brooklyn-born executive likes being the boss but has found it isn't easy running a 65,000-employee company; he says it's been harder than he imagined to shake things up at Motorola."

At Sun Microsystems, Zander had served as No. 2 behind CEO Scott McNealy for six years. In 1999, he interviewed for but didn't get the top job at Hewlett-Packard, which went to Carly Fiorina. But he finally moved into the CEO chair in January 2004 -- at Motorola.

Schaumburg, Ill.-based Motorola was ailing when he joined, having moved too slowly on new trends such as camera phones. It lost share to rivals such as Samsung and Nokia. Now the company has shown earnings improvements for six quarters, and it recently cut a deal with Apple Computer to make the Rokr cell phone that plays iTunes music.

Last month, Zander was back in Silicon Valley. He answered questions at the Churchill Club's leadership conference at the Computer History Museum. A consummate salesman once known as ``fast Eddie,'' Zander brought a silver case full of the latest Motorola cell phones that he told the crowd to buy. Afterward, he spoke with Mercury News staff writers Dean Takahashi and Therese Poletti. Here are edited excerpts from the interview:

Q How is the culture at Motorola vs. Silicon Valley?

A It's pretty obvious. We all came out here as half Type A, half crazies that want to make money, do great things, with an emphasis on speed, a sense of urgency, kill. Chicago is a lot like the rest of the world where people think about what kind of picnic to go to this weekend. It's not to say we don't want to win. It's not to say people don't work hard in Chicago. It's more a balance of life. When you're trying to be competitive with people in other parts of the world, that makes things hard.

Q When you think of the wireless industry, is Silicon Valley relevant?

A If you look at mobile technology, it's the next big thing. It's funny, if you look at where the mobile companies are, they aren't in the valley. Not the big companies. Intel is here and they are doing WiMax. Cisco is here and they are doing Internet telephony. Google and Yahoo will provide content for mobile. The valley is going to play a role in wireless, but there's a lot going on elsewhere. The venture capitalists are here.

Q So the venture capitalists can fund start-ups here that get bought by the big wireless companies elsewhere?

A That's a whole other story. It used to be when I was younger here that you only thought about going public. What's happening with the VCs is that they're funding just as many companies as they used to. The funding numbers are hitting records. But not a lot of companies are going public. Will there be enough companies to absorb all the companies getting started? You have to think about your exit strategy. It's not a growth industry the way it was in the go-go days. It's good for us and for companies that are going to buy the start-ups.

Q What's the future of the valley?

A The valley is the valley. It's the cradle of a lot of new technologies. I saw that one of the big funds here, Sequoia Capital, is opening a fund in China. This area is the base of operations. They are putting money into things outside the valley. It's the initial start-up location, but even start-ups are hiring engineering resources around the world. As a company, you have to do that. The corporate headquarters of technology companies are here. The VCs and the leaders of companies are here.

Q How do you go about shaking up a big company like Motorola?

A It's hard. It's a lot harder than I imagined. I can see we are just getting started. I don't know if it was easier at Sun. We grew to about $20 billion, and one day I wake up and we had 20,000 employees. It's hard being thrown in at the top. I always think about whether it was easier growing organically at Sun.

How do you get things done? How do you get around? At the same time, you have to produce numbers. You don't get a free lunch.

Q Do you have any advice for Sun Microsystems?

A I don't want to give advice to Scott (McNealy, CEO of Sun). I have my plan in my place. He has his plan in his place. No one plan fits all. I have fond memories of Sun. I'm hoping they can get it in gear.

Q How did you start working with Apple on the Motorola Rokr cell phone for music?

A Steve (Jobs, Apple CEO) and I started talking, and I said it would be great to bring iTunes to this mobile device. This device holds 100 songs. Apple restricted the number. That's just a beginning.

Q Is the cell phone like a PC where you are trying to cram all kinds of functions into one device?

A That's a good question. I argue with my staff. I think of the world where one day I will just have one phone number. I turn on a device and the carrier recognizes that as the only one I am going to use.

On a Saturday morning I go for a jog with my Rokr. I use another when I go to a nice dinner and want to look cool. At work, I have a different one. People will have multiple products.

There's one school of thought that says there will be converged devices. There's another school of thought that says there's one device for kids, one for the elderly. The question is how many devices do you want to carry around?

Q Which next-generation cell phone network is going to win?

A The incumbent -- because of all the money being spent outside the U.S. -- is 3G networks. Having said that, there are alternatives. Our 3G phone hits the market in the fourth quarter. It's small. Last year, the 3G phones were clunky. It will enable applications like video. People are exploring things such as WiMax (which transmits high-speed data through radio waves as far as 10 miles). Alternate networks will drive new applications, especially for WiMax in rural areas. It's not one winner.

Maybe this is politically incorrect in Silicon Valley, but it is not clear that the PC is or should be the center of the home."